After weeks of media speculation and theories of an orchestrated publicity stunt, Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon quelled those pesky whispers by confirming that they did indeed become husband and wife on April 30, says People magazine.
“We really do feel we are soul mates,” Carey told People following the sunset ceremony at her Bahamian estate. “I never felt a love like this was in the cards for me.” Cannon added: “She is beautiful on the outside, and ten times as beautiful on the inside.”
Carey, 39, and Cannon, 27, who first met at the 2005 Teen Choice Awards, began dating two months ago when the actor-rapper starred as Carey’s lover in her new music video “Bye Bye.” A week ago Latina.com was the first to report that the couple had married in the Bahamas. E! News confirmed the nuptials with the groom’s family member Linda Cannon, who refused to provide additional details. “He called and told us all about it,” she said. “We are happy for him. If that is what he wants, then we are happy for him.”
Reports that the couple were engaged surfaced when Carey sported a $2.5 million 17-karat diamond ring, designed by Jacob Arabo of Jacob & Co., at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere for her latest project, Tennessee. Their engagement took a turn toward the aisle when the songstress obtained a marriage license on the Caribbean island of Eleuthera. The ceremony reportedly commenced on Carey’s private estate in Windermere Island, an exclusive Bahamian spot where the British royals vacation. Although this is the second marriage for the Grammy-winning vocal powerhouse (she married label executive Tommy Mottola in 1998), it is the first for Cannon. However, it was the second engagement for Cannon, who had proposed publicly to Victoria Secret’s model Selita Ebanks after they dated for less than four months; they split last October.
Carey released her most recent album, E=MC2, on April 15, and it debuted at No. 1 during its first week of release. Cannon serves as the executive producer and host of MTV2’s comedy sketch competition series Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out, but is best known for his role in Drumline.